


The Premiere of Scarlet Beetle and Chat Noire

by Vitaliciouscreations



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Miraculous Ladybug Origins, Miraculous Ladybug Origins Spoilers, life swap au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-16 19:00:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19324162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vitaliciouscreations/pseuds/Vitaliciouscreations
Summary: Marinette is a lonely model who longs for freedom and gets it in the form of a small cat-like creature which grants her companionship and superpowers. Adrien is never one to turn away from an adventure, but can he handle the responsibility that comes with the title of Scarlet Beetle?The Origins episodes, but if Marinette and Adrien swapped lives and kwamis.





	1. Origins Part One

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I've posted some of my writing online, so I'm excited to do so again. I worked really hard on this piece and I'm pretty proud of how it came out. I have some more in my head, but if I write more than just Origins I'm gonna feel like I have to write at least until the end of season one, and I don't feel like I can do that lol.
> 
> Edit: I just realized none of my linebreaks carried over and nearly died on the spot. I think I fixed it but jfc.

Marinette couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face as she all but skipped down the open streets of Paris. She had no bodyguard with her, no personal assistant or chaperone. Marinette felt as free as a bird by simply walking down the street.

 

She couldn’t blame her mother for becoming freakishly overprotective ever since her dad… well. Still, Marinette had been smothered nearly to death over these past few years. She’d been cooped up in the house, caged, with every minute of her schedule filled and monitored meticulously by Nathalie. As a result Marinette had been stripped of any small bits of freedom she’d ever had, with her only solace being the designs she secretly managed to sketch in between lessons and photoshoots, and, of course, the rare moments of time she got to spend with Chloe.

 

Sneaking out of the house was a relatively new brand of rebelliousness for her, but in her opinion it was long overdue. The rush of absolute freedom she felt when simply walking alone down the street made her absolutely giddy. The fresh air, the sunlight, the people all around her. It was amazing!

 

It took a lot of effort to tangle up the schedules of her mother, Gorilla, and Nathalie enough that Marinette got even a few moments of time to herself, never mind enough time to sneak out of the house and go for a walk, but it was completely worth it in Marinette’s eyes for a breath of fresh air, the feeling of her feet against the pavement, and the tantalizing but fleeting taste of freedom.

 

Chloe had once again come through as Marinette’s best (and only) friend. She’d convinced her butler to forbid Gorilla from entering Chloe’s room so that Marinette could slip out and get a quick walk alone while Nathalie was running her errands. As long as Marinette got back to the hotel before Nathalie did, neither of them would know she’d ever been gone at all.

 

And that last bit was imperative, because if either of them knew what she was up to they would tell her mother, and the instant her mother knew about these little excursions they would be over. Her schedule would become even busier, Gorilla and Nathalie would become even more omnipresent, and Marinette would lose any smidgen of freedom she currently had. Then she would go stir crazy and be locked up in a mental asylum and she’d never be allowed outside ever again!

 

Marinette heard a pained shout from her left and turned her head towards the source. An old man was splayed on the ground, reaching for a walking stick that had skittered out of his reach.

Her eyes widened as she took in the situation, and then widened even more when they landed on the person behind him. _Nathalie_. If she rushed over, Nathalie would surely see her and then it would be all over.

 

Marinette glanced around at the other bystanders. It looked like no one else had even noticed the man. Either that or they just didn’t care. Marinette hesitated for a moment, mentally kissing her freedom goodbye, before she ran over to the man.

 

She could tell the exact moment Nathalie recognized her because she heard a shocked gasp from behind the man. She bit her lip and tried to ignore it, handing the man his cane with a kind smile and gently helping him to his feet. He returned the smile and steadied himself with cane. “Thank you, young lady.”

 

“You’re welcome,” she said, and shot a nervous glance over his shoulder. Nathalie was staring at her, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open just slightly. She was clearly surprised to see Marinette here, somewhere she definitely was not supposed to be. Marinette took a shaky breath and turned her attention back to the old man.

 

“Are you alright, sir?” she asked him, ignoring Nathalie for now.

 

The old man smiled kindly at her. “I’m fine. It’s nothing to worry about, just a little tumble.”

 

“I’m glad to hear that,” Marinette told him. “Well, have a nice day sir.”

 

He nodded at her. “And you too, young lady.”

 

The old man turned away and walked down the street. Marinette watched him go, keeping her eyes on his retreating back in order to avoid having to look at Nathalie.

 

“Marinette,” Nathalie said, sounding like she was finally regaining her composure. Marinette looked towards her, feeling small under the piercing gaze of Nathalie’s bright blue eyes. “What are you doing out here?”

 

“I—” Marinette’s voice caught in her throat and she went silent, looking away again. Nathalie and Gorilla both knew that Marinette felt smothered by her mother’s overprotective restrictions and limitations, but as far as they knew Marinette had never actually acted out against them before. She was always the good girl, always doing what other people wanted with no feelings of her own to get in the way. The perfect daughter.

 

“Forget it,” she said, looking pointedly away from Nathalie. Her eyes landed a poster of her own smiling face down the street, the name of her mother’s newest line printed next to it. She scowled and looked away, letting Nathalie take her arm in a tight hold to lead her back towards the hotel.

 

* * *

 

 

Adrien jogged down the street, a box of macarons tucked under his arm and his backpack slung over his shoulder. It was the first day back at school and he couldn’t decide whether to be excited or nervous. On one hand, new year, new school, and new fencing teacher. Armand D’Argentcourt was renowned in his field and Adrien was stoked to be able to learn from him. On the other hand, Chloe was in his class _again_ this year. As if the past three years hadn’t been enough. It was like the universe was tormenting him on purpose.

 

Adrien came to a stop in front of the school steps and took a breath, taking the time to put his backpack on properly. The sound of a car horn caught his attention, and Adrien turned his head to see an old man struggling to cross the street while a red car approached, the driver laying on their horn urgently as their brakes squealed.

 

Adrien dropped the box of macarons and ran over to the man, his feet pounding urgently against the pavement. He hooked his arm around the old man’s shoulders when he reached him and hauled him across the street just as the car skidded past them. Phew. That was a close one.

 

Bystanders gathered around them as Adrien took in another deep breath and turned to face the man. “Sir, are you alright?”

 

“Thank you, young man,” the old man said. “Quite brave of you to risk your life like that just to save me.”

 

“I wasn’t risking my life!” Adrien protested, shaking his head. “I was just doing what anyone would do.”

 

The old man gave him a kind smile. “It’s nice to know a youngster like you thinks that way. Well, have a good day.”

 

“You too, sir,” Adrien said, nodding his head respectfully at the man and going back over to where he’d dropped his macarons. Some of them had broken into pieces when they’d hit the ground and others had rolled out of the box, but there were still a good few inside the box and intact. He picked the box up with a smile and climbed the steps into school. From there, it was only a short walk until he made it to Ms. Bustier’s classroom.

 

“Nino,” Ms. Bustier was saying as Adrien entered the room. “Why don’t you take a seat in the front row this year?”

 

Adrien went to take his usual seat, but Nino beat him to it. “Uh,” he said. Nino looked up at him, but Adrien didn’t want to make him get up again after he’d just sat down so he changed directions. There was a free seat behind Nino and next to a girl he didn’t recognize, so he sat there.

 

The girl gave him a curious look as he sat down, so he smiled at her. “Hey,” he said, opening the box of macarons and turning it towards her. “I’m Adrien Agreste. Macaron?”

 

“Thanks,” the girl said, taking a macaron. “Alya Césaire. It’s nice to meet you.” She bit into the macaron. “Mmm. This is delicious.”

 

“Thanks. My mom owns a bakery, so I pretty much always have access to good cookies.” Adrien shrugged.

 

“I’ll have to drop by sometime,” Alya said just as Ms. Bustier clapped her hands, signaling that class had begun.

 

“Alright, has everyone found a seat?” Ms. Bustier asked. When there were no objections, she smiled at the class. “Good. Now let’s begin. For those of you that don’t know me yet, I’m Ms. Bustier. I’ll be your teacher this year.”

 

* * *

 

Marinette’s mother was already waiting for them in the entrance hall when Marinette entered the house with Nathalie and Gorilla in tow. She was standing tall and proud, her hands elegantly placed behind her back and a small frown on her face. Marinette internally winced when she saw her, now dreading the conversation that lay ahead of her even more than before. The sound of the front doors closing behind them felt like a trap being sprung.

 

“Marinette,” her mother said, stepping towards her and waving Nathalie and Gorilla away so that they could have this conversation in private. “Nathalie told me she found you wandering the streets of Paris without her or your bodyguard accompanying you. Is this true?”

 

“Yes,” Marinette admitted, keeping her voice even and neutral.

 

“Why?” Her mother’s brow furrowed, her tone becoming concerned. “Did something happen? Was there something wrong? Did you feel unsafe?”

 

“No, Mama,” Marinette answered evenly.

 

“Then why did you leave the hotel without an escort?” her mother questioned. Her voice turned a little colder. “Marinette, you should know better. Going out on your own is dangerous. You could have been hurt.”

 

It was sweet that her mother cared so much, Marinette reminded herself. It was love that made her mother want to protect Marinette from the world. Marinette was lucky to have a mother like Sabine who was willing to pay any price and go to any length to insure that her daughter was safe. Feeling irritated at her mother for just trying to keep her safe was ungrateful.

 

Marinette took a breath. “I know, Mama.”

 

“Well then why were you out on the streets of Paris all alone?” her mother asked. “I don’t understand, Marinette.”

 

“I know you don’t,” Marinette replied. She regretted speaking the words almost the instant they were out of her mouth. Saying something like that was petulant and childish, two things Marinette shouldn’t be.

 

Her mother’s eyes widened a bit at that response. “Marinette?”

 

“I’m going to go to my room,” Marinette stated calmly. Well, she tried for calmly. She managed evenly.

 

“Marinette,” her mother said. She tried to step in front of Marinette, but Marinette dodged around her and scaled the stairs behind her mother quickly. Her face was twitching as she desperately tried to keep her composure while her true emotions pushed to break free.

 

“Marinette!” her mother called after her, but Marinette ignored her and kept heading for her room. She reached the door and quickly slipped inside, closing the door behind her and leaning her forehead against its cool surface.

 

She only had a couple of seconds of silence before there was a knock on the other side of the door. “Marinette,” her mother’s voice called through the door. “Marinette!”

 

Marinette raised her hand and rested it on the doorknob. She knew she was expected to open the door. She was expected to emerge from her room and face her mother and have a conversation with her. She was expected to apologize for causing any trouble today, and to promise that she’d never inconvenience anybody else by committing the ghastly act of feeling emotions ever again.

 

Marinette closed her eyes against the flood of tears forming there and turned her back on the door, holding it closed. There was another knock. “Marinette, open the door and talk to me,” her mother’s voice demanded. “This is ridiculous. You’re acting like a child.”

 

A very petulant part of Marinette, the part everybody—including herself—liked to pretend didn’t exist, pointed out that she _was_ a child. She dug her heels into the carpet, holding the door shut as her mother tried the doorknob.

 

“Marinette!” her mother said sharply. “I don’t understand what this is about. Just come out and talk to me.”

 

The mature thing would be to go out and talk to her mother. Marinette recognized that, but she didn’t want to. She wanted to stay in her room and mope and maybe cry a little bit and mourn the loss of freedom she would soon experience.

 

Her mother knocked on the door again, and Marinette swallowed around the lump in her throat as she continued to hold the door closed with her body. She was digging herself a hole, she knew. She had no idea what the punishment for her walk would have been, but this little _temper tantrum_ of hers was undoubtedly making things much worse. The dramatic part of her said that she’d be lucky if she was ever allowed to leave the house again.

 

Marinette slid down the door until she was sitting on the ground, her feet stretched out in front of her. She was wearing the cute pink flats she always wore when she’d planned one of her super secret walks. The edges were speckled with mud, no longer pristine and perfect.

 

A bolt of guilt shot through Marinette’s heart. Her shoes wouldn’t have been dirtied if she’d just stayed where she was supposed to inside her gilded cage. Her mother wouldn’t be inconvenienced like this is Marinette just behaved. None of this would have happened if Marinette had just done as she was told.

 

Marinette scowled down at her shoes. She just couldn’t win. She felt trapped and smothered when she did what she was told, and guilty when she didn’t. There was nothing she could do to come out on top.

 

Sometimes Marinette thought everyone would be happier with her if she was just a doll without any of those pesky emotions or desires attached.

 

The other side of the door had gone silent. Marinette slowly got to her feet and stepped away from the door. It didn’t suddenly swing inwards, her mother on the other side. It stayed shut, and Marinette breathed out a sigh before taking off her flats as to not dirty the carpet. She strode across her room and slumped into her desk chair, feeling exhausted.

 

A little black box with red engravings on the top of it was sitting on her desk. She blinked at it. That hadn’t been there when she’d left this morning.

 

“What’s this?” she murmured to herself as she picked it up. She opened the box curiously, and squeaked in surprise when a ball of light shot out of it. The box fell out of her hands and clattered to the floor, something shiny popping out of it and rolling across the carpet.

 

The ball of light that had emerged from the box began to materialize into a dark black shape floating in midair. Marinette stared at it, the last of the light dissipating and leaving only the shape behind. And then the shape yawned.

 

Marinette shrieked and toppled backwards, hitting the carpeted floor with a muffled thump. Her elbow hit her desk chair and sent it spinning across the room. She gaped at the thing, which looked an awful lot like a cat, but tiny.

 

“Hi,” the tiny cat said.

 

Marinette squeaked and scrambled backwards across the carpet. When she reached her desk chair, she quickly grabbed it and hid behind it, peering over the top of it with frightened eyes at the tiny, floating, cat-thingy suddenly in her room.

 

“Ooh, swanky,” the tiny cat drawled, darting around the room like a hummingbird. Except it was a cat, and it talked.

 

Marinette ducked lower behind her desk chair as it flew over to one of the mannequins she had in her room. Then it darted over to her full length mirror, and then back over to her desk. And then it zipped around the desk chair and right up to Marinette’s face. Marinette squeaked and scrambled to pull the desk chair in between her and the tiny cat again.

 

“Wh-What are you?” she asked in a shaky voice, peering at the tiny cat from over the back of the desk chair.

 

“I’m a kwami,” the tiny cat said. “My name’s Plagg. Nice to meet you.”

 

“K-Kwami?” Marinette asked. “I don’t understand.”

 

“I grant powers,” Plagg said. “Specifically the power of destruction. Got it?”

 

“No,” Marinette replied, shaking her head in distress and gripping the desk chair tightly.

 

“Great,” Plagg said, seemingly ignoring her answer. “Now, you got anything to eat? I’m starving.”

 

* * *

 

“Those of you that have P.E., Mr. D’Argentcourt is expecting you at the stadium,” Ms. Bustier said as the bell rang. “The rest of you can head over to the library.”

 

Adrien stood, feeling excited for his next class. His first class with Mr. D’Argentcourt. And Chloe wasn’t in P.E., so she didn’t even have a chance of ruining this.

 

As he rushed out of the classroom he heard the sound of Ivan growling at Kim, but paid it no mind. He also paid Chloe no mind. That is, until he tripped over Sabrina’s foot and ended up crashing to the ground, the rest of his macarons, along with half of the things in his backpack, ending up on the ground. He looked up at her, angry.

 

“Whoopsie,” Chloe said, a mean smirk on her face. “Looks like Adrien had a little fall.”

 

She and Sabrina giggled mean-spiritedly at him as he brushed himself off and began to pick up his things. The macarons were a lost cause, but the rest of his stuff he would need for his classes.

 

His eyes landed on a little black box amongst his things and he frowned to himself. He was certain that it wasn’t his, and yet, it did look sort of familiar. And it had clearly fallen out of his backpack. He picked it up and curiously turned it over in his hands. The more he looked at it, the more he was sure that he’d seen it somewhere before, but he was sure he didn’t own anything like it.

 

“Is it just me, or did that girl take a few pages out of the ‘Spoiled Brat’ manual?” a voice asked, and his new seatmate, Alya, crouched down next to him and began helping him gather his things.

 

“With Chloe, it’s less a few pages and more the whole book,” Adrien said, tucking the mysterious box into his pocket for now and offering Alya a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Alya said with a satisfied smile. “So, she’s always that nasty?”

 

“Some days she’s worse,” Adrien said, putting the last of his things back into his backpack and standing up. He offered a hand down to help Alya up too. “So, do you have P.E. next?”

 

“Nah,” Alya said, shaking her head. “I’m headed to the library. See you later?”

 

“Yeah,” Adrien agreed with a smile and a nod, and they parted ways.

 

Adrien ducked into the bathroom for some privacy and fished the strange box out of his pocket. He frowned at it again, tracing the red engravings on the top of it with a finger. Where had it come from, and why was it so familiar?

 

He flipped the lid open, and then jerked in surprise as a ball of light shot out of it. He fumbled and dropped the box in his shock and it clattered into the sink in front of him, but the ball of light stayed where it was and materialized into some sort of… giant ladybug looking thing?

 

Adrien took a startled step back when the giant ladybug thing opened its eyes. It blinked at him, and then glanced around the bathroom for a moment before looking back to Adrien.

 

“Hello,” the ladybug creature said, and Adrien’s shoulders tensed. “My name is Tikki. What’s yours?”

 

“Uh, Adrien,” Adrien said. “Agreste.”

 

“It’s nice to meet you,” the little ladybug thing, er, _Tikki_ said kindly.

 

Adrien stared at the creature, halfway convinced that he’d slept through his alarm again and this was all a dream. But no dream would have Chloe in it. Well, unless it was a nightmare.

 

“What are you?” he asked, taking a step towards Tikki and squinting at them curiously.

 

“I’m a kwami,” Tikki explained. “The kwami of the Ladybug Miraculous. I grant special powers to my chosen, and that’s you, Adrien!”

 

Adrien blinked. “Me? Special powers? Like what? And why?”

 

“The power of creation,” Tikki said. “Listen, Adrien. The world needs your help. You were chosen to wield the Ladybug Miraculous and stand against evil.”

 

“‘Stand against evil’?” Adrien echoed. “Like a superhero?”

 

“Exactly!” Tikki chirped. “Now let me explain how it works to you.”

 

Just then, a loud roar pierced the air, followed by a crashing noise from above. Both Adrien and Tikki stiffened, and then Tikki turned to Adrien.

 

“Quickly, you have to put the earrings in. It sounds like you’re needed. I’ll explain as fast as I can.”

 

“Earrings?” Adrien asked. “What earrings?”

 

“My Miraculous,” Tikki said. “They should have been in the box you received.”

 

Adrien stepped forward, Tikki zipping around to hover above his shoulder, and fished the box he’d dropped out of the sink. Another enraged roar shook the school as he brought the box up to his face. There was indeed a pair of earrings inside the box.

 

Another load crash came from upstairs, quickly followed by a tremor in the ground that knocked Adrien off his feet and sent him crashing to the floor. The box fell out of his hand and skittered across the bathroom tiles.

 

“C’mon,” Tikki urged. “There’s no time to lose!”

 

Adrien scrambled to get his hands back on the box even as he protested. “But I still don’t have any idea what’s going on. And my ears aren’t even pierced!”

 

“If you really need to, you can simply carry them with you,” Tikki said. “Though it really would be better to wear them. I’ll try to explain as fast as I can. To transform, say ‘Tikki, spots on’. To detransform it’s ‘Tikki, spots off’. ‘Lucky Charm’ is your secret superpower. It’ll create an object to help you win the fight, but you can only use it once and you’ll detransform five minutes after you use it. After that I’ll need some food to reinvigorate myself before I can transform again.”

 

“Okay,” Adrien said. Another roar shook the school and Adrien clutched the box tightly. “Anything else?”

 

Yet another loud crash could be heard, followed by the sound of a blaring car alarm. Adrien could feel short, rhythmic thumps through the ground, as if something very large and very heavy was walking around, shaking the ground with every footfall. He swallowed nervously.

 

“You’ll need to find the object the akuma is in and break it,” Tikki said, flitting in front of his face to get his attention. “Once you break it the akuma will be released and the akumatized victim will go back to normal. Then all you need to do is capture the akuma and purify it and everything will go back to normal!”

 

“Um, okay,” Adrien said, finding it a little hard to focus with the blaring car alarm and the shaking ground, but trying his best. “I’ll try, I guess. So it was, uh, ‘Tikki, spots out’!”

 

Tikki giggled next to him. “Spots _on_ ,” they corrected.

 

“Tikki, spots on!”

 

* * *

 

“There’s gotta be some sort of mistake,” Marinette mumbled, leaning back in her desk chair as Plagg unrolled a roll of toilet paper across her bedroom floor. “I’m not superhero material. I’m a model. I don’t know anything about fighting or superpowers.”

 

“You were the one chosen to wield the Black Cat Miraculous,” Plagg said from his place on the floor. “Don’t complain to me.”

 

Marinette looked down at the silver ring she was holding in the palm of her right hand. It had been the shiny thing that had rolled across the carpet when Marinette had dropped the box that Plagg had come in. Apparently Plagg was connected to it somehow, and putting it on would grant her the power of destruction. “Isn’t there someone else who could do this? Someone better?”

 

“Nope,” Plagg chirped. “Like it or not, you were the one chosen. And just so you know, most people consider it an honor to be able to wield my power!”

 

“It’s not that I’m not grateful!” Marinette said hurriedly. “Or honored. I’m very honored! But I really don’t think I’m superhero material.”

 

“Well somebody thinks you are,” Plagg told her. “Enough to give you a Miraculous, at least. That’s no small thing, y’know.”

 

Marinette sighed. “I know, and like I said I’m very grateful, but I—”

 

Marinette was cut off by a loud crashing sound, followed by a loud car alarm going off. She began to hear rhythmic thumping sounds, slowly getting louder as if approaching. And then she began to feel those thumping sounds as the ground began to tremor with each one.

 

Marinette rushed over to the window. At first she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but then something rounded the corner of a nearby street and Marinette’s eyes settled on it.

 

“What is that?” she asked weakly, staring in shock at the stone golem thingy currently stomping down the street. The ground shook beneath her feet with every step it took. “Plagg?”

 

“That’s an akuma,” Plagg answered. “It’s why the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous were put into action. Transform and you and whoever has the Ladybug Miraculous will be able to take it down.”

 

“But what if we can’t?” Marinette worried. “What if _I_ can’t? What if I fail and screw up? I told you I’m not cut off for this kind of thing!”

 

“The same thing that will happen if you do nothing at all,” Plagg drawled, settling lightly onto her shoulder. “That monster will rampage through Paris, doing whatever it pleases. Hurting people and causing destruction and chaos wherever it goes.”

 

Marinette hesitated, thinking that over as Plagg lounged on her shoulder. “I—”

 

A loud crash sounded, startling Marinette. Her hands came up to cover her mouth as the monster kicked a car away from it, a person flailing helplessly from the driver’s seat. The car slammed into a building and the driver quickly scrambled to get out of it, walking with a clear limp as they hurried to get away from the monster.

 

“So what are you going to do?” Plagg asked from her shoulder. “Sit back and do nothing, or go and help people?”

 

“I can’t,” Marinette protested, shaking her head. “I can’t do this. I’m not a superhero.”

 

And yet, Marinette looked down at the ring she was holding. Sunlight glinted off of it as she turned it over in her hand. It looked so innocuous, so normal. How could something like this grant special powers?

 

“Isn’t there someone else who you could go to?” Marinette asked desperately. “Someone better at this sort of thing?”

 

“Nope,” Plagg chirped. “Like I said, you’re the one who was chosen to wield the Black Cat Miraculous. No one else will do.”

 

“But…” Marinette wavered, glancing out the window. The stone monster was no longer in sight, but the destruction it had left in its wake was. Her eyes landed on the car it had kicked, and her mind went to the person she had seen limping away from that car.

 

She slipped the ring onto her finger with trembling hands before she could change her mind. It had looked too big to fit on any of her fingers before when she was just holding it, but now it was a perfect fit. As if it had been made just for her.

 

“I don’t think I’m the right person for this, Plagg,” Marinette mumbled.

 

“You said that already,” Plagg pointed out. “Listen, do you want that monster to keep destroying Paris or not?”

 

Marinette bit her lip. Or chewed her lip, really. Then she took a deep breath, doing her best to soothe her frazzled nerves. It didn’t work very well.

 

“Okay, so it was ‘Plagg, claws out’ to—”

 

Marinette didn’t finish her question as Plagg turned into a black blur at the same time a strange feeling washed over her. Her body was encased in light, leaving her feeling very different, and Marinette stumbled over her mirror to check her reflection.

 

She was pretty surprised by what she saw. For one, she was now clothed head to toe in a black, form-fitting catsuit. And when she said catsuit she meant it in the most literal sense of the word. There were now two cat-like ears on the top of her head, though thankfully when she reached up a hand to feel them it didn’t seem like they were actually real. She also had a tail coming out of her back and silver claws at the tips of her fingers. The most noticeable thing, however, were her eyes. They were still blue, but now the whites of her eyes had been turned blue as well, and her pupils were slitted just like a cat’s.

 

Her hair was still up in the bun she’d put it into this morning, but it was no longer neat and tidy like it had been even one minute ago. It was messy, with tufts of hair sticking out here and there. Even her bangs looked more wild and rough now.

 

There was also a sort of silver cylinder attached to her belt, which Marinette detached so she could look it over. There was a green paw print on one side of it that was almost glowing. Marinette pressed down on it curiously, and the cylinder extended straight into the mirror, knocking it over but thankfully not breaking the glass. Marinette squeaked and dropped the cylinder.

 

“Plagg, I don’t know about this. Can’t you just give me my regular clothes back and go find someone else to wield your miraculous thingy?” Marinette pleaded.

 

Silence.

 

“Plagg?” Marinette asked, glancing around her room. Plagg was nowhere to be found. “Plagg?”

 

Still no response. Marinette groaned. Great.

 

Marinette could no longer feel the stone monster’s footsteps shaking the ground. She could almost pretend like it didn’t exist at all. Except the wreckage it had left behind was still there outside her window. The mangled car it had kicked across the street was still there. Marinette’s entire body was trembling, but she bent down to grab the cylinder, or, well, it looked more like a staff now, and headed towards the windows again.

 

She took a deep breath, trying to convince herself that she could do this, and opened one of the windows. She didn’t really believe herself, but she put that aside and braced one end of the staff against the floor and pointed the other end towards the open window. A part of her was sure that this wouldn’t work and Marinette would end up face-planting into the bushes below. Still, Marinette climbed up the staff, feeling awkward and nervous, and pressed a thumb against the green paw print.

 

The staff extended. Marinette squeaked, flailing and just barely managing to keep her thumb against the paw print as she was pulled out the window. She expected the staff to stop extending at some point, but it just kept going and going until Marinette reached a nearby rooftop and let go of the paw print. The staff immediately retracted itself to a much more manageable size. Odd, considering it hadn’t done that earlier.

 

Marinette would have to investigate that more thoroughly later. That is if whoever had given her the Miraculous didn’t immediately come to take it back after realizing what a mistake they’d made by giving it to her. For now, though, she had bigger things to worry about. _Much_ bigger, unfortunately.

 

* * *

 

It took Adrien a while to figure out how to keep the earrings with him even though his ears weren’t pierced. He eventually settled for the less than ideal solution of detransforming, tying them to one of his many bracelets, and then retransforming. He was nervous about the earrings coming untied and falling away, but there wasn’t very much he could do and he was sort of in a hurry so he accepted it for now.

 

He had a little catching up to do after that to find what had been causing all that noise and chaos, and when he did he wasn’t exactly thrilled with what he found. It was a giant monster. A giant monster made out of stone, to be precise, which grew with each hit to it Adrien dealt and besides that didn’t seem to react to Adrien at all. It was too absorbed in cracking the streets of Paris underneath its giant stone feet and bellowing out, “KIM!” in a really familiar voice, though it was a little gravelly. Heh, gravelly.

 

Adrien tried running at it, tried hitting it, tried kicking it, and tried to smack it with his super yoyo thingy. All it did was make the monster grow bigger and bigger and tire Adrien out.

 

Unfortunately, Adrien didn’t have a clue what to do besides hit and kick the monster. It was too big to stop, and it simply broke through anything it its way. Adrien was as effective as a, well, a ladybug against it, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

 

…Or could he? Adrien used his yoyo to swing onto the stretch of road now in front of the monster, remembering what Tikki had told him. He flung his yoyo up in the air. “ _Lucky Ch_ —”

 

The monster grabbed him before he could finish saying the command and hurled Adrien upwards as hard as it could. Adrien screamed as he flew through the air, first up high above the rooftops of Paris, and then down in an arc, towards a… cat girl?

 

The cat girl looked up when she heard him screaming and her eyes widened in panic. She shook her head no, but she couldn’t back away because she was standing on some sort of silver cylinder thing between buildings. Adrien crashed right into her and they both fell towards the street below, stopping just a few feet from the pavement when Adrien’s yoyo’s string wrapped around them both tightly and kept them suspended.

 

“Well hey there,” he said, grinning at the girl. She had bright blue eyes that were slitted like a cat’s and wide as she stared at him. “Sorry for dropping in so unexpectedly.”

 

The girl blinked at him. “Wh-What?”

 

Adrien tugged at his yoyo string hard in an effort to get untangled, and it actually worked, which was really only possible with a magic yoyo. The girl squeaked in surprise as she dropped to the ground, but somehow managed to tuck into a roll and land on her feet. Adrien wasn’t so nimble and ended up landing on his head.

 

“Are you okay?” the girl asked worriedly from above him.

 

“Just fine,” Adrien assured her, scrambling to his feet and rubbing his head. Hitting the stone monster with his fists didn’t hurt, but of course that had. Adrien supposed it must be the costume that kept him from feeling it since his head was the only part of him the costume didn’t cover.

 

“Those spots,” the girl mumbled. “Like a ladybug. So then you must be the wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous!”

 

Adrien grinned at her. “Yes indeed. How do you know about that, though?”

 

“My kwami told me about you,” the girl said, tucking her hands behind her back in an oddly formal way. “They said we’d be partners.”

 

“I’m all for having a partner,” Adrien blurted out. “Uh, I wasn’t really doing that well against that stone monster on my own.”

 

The cat girl looked away from him and down at the ground. “I don’t know how much help I’ll be. I really don’t think I’m superhero material.”

 

Adrien paused, staring at the girl. She was obviously unsure of herself, but Adrien didn’t really know why. “Well hey,” he said. “Two heads are always better than one, right?”

 

The girl looked up at him. Her eyes were _so blue_. “I guess,” she murmured.

 

“Cool.” He grinned and stuck out his hand. “Well it’s nice to meet you, partner. I’m…” he trailed off, trying to think of a really cool superhero name. One that was also related to ladybugs. It was a taller order than one might think. “Uh, Scarlet Beetle. Yup, Scarlet Beetle. That works, right?”

 

“Right,” the girl said, sounding unsure. Adrien wasn’t sure whether it was because his name was bad or just because she was still nervous about this whole thing.

 

A loud rumbling noise came from down the street, and both Adrien and the cat girl turned in time to see a tall building fall down onto the street. Obviously the work of the stone monster.

 

“We should get going,” Adrien said, running forward and flinging out his yoyo. “We’ve got a city to save!”

 

* * *

 

Marinette had no idea where the monster was headed or what it wanted, so the only thing she could do was follow it. Or rather, follow the ladybug guy who was following it. Scarlet Beetle.

 

The monster finally stopped when it reached a sort of stadium and began climbing up the side, damaging it in the process. When it finally reached the top, Marinette and Scarlet Beetle were close enough to hear it bellow, “KIM!” in a loud, booming voice.

 

Scarlet Beetle reached the stadium before Marinette did, and by the time she got to the top of it he was already fighting the monster. Trying to wrap it up with his magical yoyo thingy and bring it crashing to the ground, or just hitting it and kicking it. The problem was that the more hits it seemed to take, the bigger it seemed to grow. And since it was made of stone those hits weren’t even affecting it at all. Wrapping it up seemed a little more effective, but only for as long as Scarlet Beetle could hold it before it sent him flying across the stadium.

 

“Where are you, partner?” Scarlet Beetle called out, dodging a giant stone fist and winding his yoyo back in.

 

Marinette covered her mouth and watched in horror as the monster picked up one of the goals on the field and threw it at Scarlet Beetle. He dodged and it bounced back up, flying towards a girl crouched at the entrance to the stadium, filming everything on her phone. Marinette gasped in horror, but Scarlet Beetle tossed out his yoyo and caught the girl around the waist with it, tugging her out of the way just as the goal crashed down where she’d just been. At least _he_ was a good superhero.

 

The monster took advantage of his distraction, though, and grabbed him with a giant stone fist. He squirmed in the monster’s hold, looking like he could be squeezed into nothing at any moment. Marinette felt the urge to look away before that could happen.

 

“What are you waiting for, Catwoman?” a voice yelled, and Marinette looked towards the girl who had almost been crushed by the goal. “Your partner needs your help!”

 

 _Your partner needs your help_. That’s right. Marinette couldn’t just stand here and do nothing. The whole reason she’d come out at all was because people needed her help. And now Scarlet Beetle needed her help. Marinette couldn’t just stand and watch.

 

Marinette took a shaky breath, determination flowing through her, and leapt off the side of the stadium staff first. She hit the ground running, or rather, rolling, and extended her staff to trip the giant monster up as it stomped around. She succeeded, but as a result her staff was pulled out of her hands and was sent rolling across the field. So was Scarlet Beetle, who the monster let go of as it tripped.

 

“Scarlet Beetle, are you okay?” she called out, running over to him. She scooped up her staff as she did, retracting it so it was a more manageable size as she reached him. “I’m sorry it took so long.”

 

“You’re just in time, cat girl,” he said, standing up and reeling in his yoyo. “Got any ideas about how to kick his rocky behind? Just hitting him isn’t working.”

 

“You’re right about that,” Marinette said. “It looks like he just absorbs the hits and uses them to become stronger. We need a plan, but I don’t know what we’re supposed to do.”

 

The stone monster had lumbered close enough to grab them, and now attempted to do just that. It only grabbed with its right hand though, keeping its left hand curled into a fist. Marinette’s eyes narrowed as she dodged around the monster’s grabbing hand and began to sprint towards the other side of the stadium.

 

“My kwami said we should find the item that’s holding the akuma and destroy it,” Scarlet Beetle shouted as he came up running next to her. “If we free the akuma, the akumatized victim will go back to normal.”

 

“‘The item that’s holding the akuma’?” Marinette echoed. “So like, an item that thing has on it?”

 

“Yeah,” Scarlet Beetle confirmed. “But that thing is nothing but stone. I don’t see any items on it.”

 

“That’s because it’s not on it!” Marinette exclaimed. “Look at its left fist. While it was fighting you, and back then when it was trying to grab us, it’s never once opened its fist. I think it’s holding something.”

 

They reached the other side of the stadium, and Scarlet Beetle turned to look at its fist like Marinette had instructed. “Huh,” he said. “But how are we supposed to get it to let go of whatever its holding?”

 

Marinette bit her lip. “My kwami said I had the power of destruction, so I could just destroy its fist. But… you said ‘akumatized _victim’_. If that’s an actual person, I don’t want to risk destroying them.”

 

Scarlet Beetle considered that for a moment before nodding his head. “Good call. I guess it’s up to me then, so _Lucky Charm!_ ”

 

Scarlet Beetle threw his yoyo up in the air and let it spin for a second, bright light shining off of it, before both it and something else fell down towards them. Scarlet Beetle caught both his yoyo and the other object.

 

“A… wetsuit?” he muttered, turning the aforementioned item over in his hands. “When my kwami said I would get an item that would help me win the fight, I thought, well… I thought it would actually be something helpful.”

 

Marinette looked at the wetsuit, and then glanced around, noticing the hose by their feet, the girl across the stadium who was still filming everything on her phone, and the wetsuit Scarlet Beetle was holding. “I think it is helpful!” she exclaimed. “Listen, if we just—” she leaned down and grabbed the hose, and then snatched the wetsuit from Scarlet Beetle and attached the hose to it.

 

“Okay,” she said. “First you run at him and he’ll catch you in his right hand. Then I run at him with this,” she shook the wetsuit, “and he’ll catch me in his left hand, dropping whatever he’s holding in the process. That girl will turn on the hose, which will fill up the wetsuit and make him drop me, and then I can destroy the thing he dropped and the akuma will be freed. Sound like a plan?”

 

Scarlet Beetle grinned at her. “Sounds as good as anything else I’ve tried. Let’s do this!”

 

They nodded at each other, and then Scarlet Beetle ran towards the stone monster as Marinette turned towards the girl at the entrance of the stadium. She was still filming everything, but Marinette couldn’t really blame her. This was the kind of story that needed to be seen to be believed.

 

“Hey!” she called out to the girl. “Can you turn on that tap when I tell you to?”

 

The girl looked up at her, surprised, and then nodded. Marinette grinned and then ran towards the monster with the wetsuit in hand, jumping when she got close and aiming for his left side. As predicted, he let go of a small purple rock in favor of catching her. Marinette grinned.

 

“Now!” she yelled, and the girl across the stadium turned the tap all the way up. The wetsuit filled quickly and the monster was forced to drop Marinette. Marinette ran towards the rock.

 

“ _Cataclysm_!” she called out, feeling a rush of energy in her right hand. Holding it up, she could see it roiling with darkness, like she was staring into a moving shadow. She grabbed the small purple rock with her charged-up hand and it crumbled to dust, a dark purple butterfly emerging from it and fluttering upwards into the sky.

 

“Awesome,” Scarlet Beetle said from behind her, and Marinette turned to find him grinning at her. Behind him was a large boy on the ground, holding his head and groaning. He was surrounded by rubble that quickly turned to light and then faded away completely.

 

“Wh-what’s going on?” he asked groggily. “What am I doing here?”

 

Scarlet Beetle stuck his fist out in her direction. Marinette blinked at it inquisitively. “Huh?”

 

“C’mon,” Scarlet Beetle urged. “Pound it? Like a fist bump? In celebration.”

 

“But my hand—” Marinette brought up her right hand, only to notice that it was no longer covered in roiling shadow. “Huh? But I thought…”

 

“You only get one shot, and then you detransform after five minutes,” Scarlet Beetle explained. “I’m guessing your kwami missed a few things in their explanation?”

 

“Yeah,” Marinette said sheepishly. “Uh, well, fist pound?” She awkwardly stuck out her fist.

 

Scarlet Beetle laughed. “Pound it!” he exclaimed, bumping his fist against hers lightly. A beeping noise sounded, and Scarlet Beetle grimaced. “I should get going soon, and so should you. I think that’s a warning that I’m gonna detransform soon.”

 

“Right,” Marinette said. “Well, see you around?”

 

Scarlet Beetle grinned at her. “See you around, partner,” he said, winking before turning away and throwing his yoyo out. He swung away, leaving Marinette on the field with the boy and the girl.

 

“Are you okay?” she asked, approaching the boy and holding out a hand to help him up. He was three times her size, but this transformation seemed to give Marinette strength and agility she didn’t have when she was herself. He did most of the work anyway, with Marinette only lending a helping hand.

 

“I’m fine,” he grumbled. “What happened?”

 

“Still trying to figure that out myself,” Marinette admitted.

 

A beeping noise sounded. Marinette glanced down at the ring on her finger, noticing a pawprint on it with one of the toe pads flashing before disappearing completely. Right, only five minutes before she detransformed. Or, well, looked like four minutes now.

 

“Hey!” a voice exclaimed, and she saw the girl who’d turned the tap on rushing over to them. She held up her phone, obviously filming, and Marinette shrunk back shyly.

 

“Uncanny! Amazing! Spectacular!” the girl raved, stepping closer. “You guys were like real life superheroes! Are you going to be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Who’s your partner and how did he get _his_ powers? Oh, I’ve got so many questions to ask you!”

 

“Uhh, um,” Marinette stammered, taking another step back. “Well, uh, hmm. My partner is Scarlet Beetle, and I’m, er, um, well…” she trailed off. “Uh, Chat Noire? Yeah, Chat Noire! And, well, I’d love to answer more of your questions, but I need to leave right now, so bye!”

 

She rushed off, leaving the confused boy and the filming girl behind and using her staff to get over the side of the stadium. That could have gone better. But it also could have gone worse, so Marinette would consider it a net win.

 

* * *

 

_“Uh, Chat Noire? Yeah, Chat Noire! And, well, I’d love to answer more of your questions, but I need to leave right now, so bye!”_

 

Adrien watched the news clip of his and his partner’s battle with the stone monster with a big grin on his face. They’d done it! Just like Alya had said, they’d been like real life super heroes!

 

“So her name is Chat Noire, huh?” he murmured, reaching out to pause the footage. “She’s so cool.”

 

“You’re cool too, Adrien,” Tikki said, zipping around his head. “You and she did it together. You saved that boy and all of Paris. You should be very proud.”

 

Adrien grinned at the little kwami. “Thanks Tikki. I couldn’t have done it without her. What was up with the lucky charm thingy being a wetsuit anyway? I thought you said it would create an item that would help me win.”

 

“And that’s what it did!” Tikki exclaimed. “It did help you win, right? The lucky charm is an item that’s needed, not necessarily an item that’s wanted. You just have to figure out how to use it.”

 

Adrien considered these words and slumped down into his chair. “I don’t know if I can do that, Tikki. I had no idea what to do with a wetsuit of all things until Chat Noire stepped in. If all lucky charms are going to be like that, then I don’t really know if I’m the best person to wield the Ladybug Miraculous.”

 

“Believe in yourself, Adrien,” Tikki encouraged. “You beat the akuma, right? I think you did a great job!”

 

Adrien smiled at her. “Thanks, Tikki. Now, it’s about dinner time. What do you want to eat?”

 

“Got any cookies?” Tikki asked.

 

“Absolutely. I live in a bakery after all. I always have cookies.”

 

* * *

 

 _“I am pleased to announce that we will be organizing a huge celebration in order to honor our two new heroes, Scarlet Beetle and Chat Noire,”_ Mayor André was saying to the cameras. Marinette grinned at the television from her place on the couch, her heart feeling warm and light.

 

Today had been a lot. There had been a lot of fear, a lot of uncertainty, and a lot of freedom too. Because even though Marinette had been anxious and scared the entire time, that didn’t change the fact that she’d spent about twenty minutes completely unsupervised. No hovering mother, no hulking bodyguard, and no meticulous personal assistant monitoring her every move.

 

It was less than ideal that she’d instead been accompanied by a superhero partner and had spent a fair part of her free time fighting a giant monster, but Marinette was still absolutely thrilled. Being Chat Noire had been so different than what being Marinette Dupain-Cheng was like. Marinette herself hadn’t changed, but everything around her had. And she wasn’t just talking about the guy in the ladybug costume or the giant stone monster.

 

Nobody had held any expectations for her. Nobody had expected her to be composed. Nobody had expected her to know everything. Nobody had expected her to be perfect. Nobody had expected _anything_. She’d just been a girl in a cat costume, and all of her actions had been 100% her own.

 

“That was incredible, Plagg,” Marinette breathed. “I’ve never felt more free in my entire life.”

 

“Good for you,” Plagg said, hovering over her shoulder. “You know, you can do it again once I’ve eaten something. So when’s dinner?”

 

As if on cue, a knock at the door sounded. Marinette got up from the couch and answered the door, Plagg zooming away to hide from sight. She expected to see her personal chef or Gorilla at the door, so her eyes widened in surprise when instead she saw her mother standing there.

 

She was holding the plate with Marinette’s dinner on it—fish because that was the kind of food Marinette had figured a cat kwami thing would like—and she gave Marinette a small smile. “Marinette, can we talk?”

 

Marinette stiffened. “About earlier?” she guessed. With everything else that had happened today, she’d nearly forgotten about that.

 

“Yes,” her mother said. “But not just that. Can I come in?”

 

Marinette silently stepped aside, granting her mother access to her room. Her mother walked over to the couch Marinette had just been seated on and set Marinette’s dinner on the coffee table before taking a seat. She looked over her shoulder and Marinette and gestured for Marinette to take a seat beside her.

 

Slowly, Marinette closed her bedroom door again and walked over to the couch, making sure not to drag her feet even though she desperately wanted to. She took care to sit down with a certain amount of gracefulness in her movements that she didn’t bother with when she was alone.

 

“Marinette.” Her mother sat with a ramrod straight back, her ankles crossed, and her hands folded in her lap, and Marinette mirrored her posture almost perfectly. “I… I think I might have failed you as a parent.”

 

Marinette’s eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. She knew she was making an unattractive face right then, one she’d likely be reprimanded for, but she couldn’t help it. That was the exact last thing she’d expected her mother to say to her right now.

 

Her mother didn’t reprimand her for the face, though. Instead she just sighed and looked at Marinette with an inexplicably mournful expression.

 

“I came into you room earlier today,” her mother confessed softly. “When that stone monster was rampaging through Paris. I was hoping to talk to you, but I couldn’t find you in your room. I had Nathalie and Gorilla search the house with me, but none of us could find you anywhere. The only hint of your whereabouts was that one of your bedroom windows was open.”

 

 _Oh no_.

 

“The only thing I could conclude,” her mother continued. “Was that you had snuck out through that window. Right?”

 

Marinette didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t think she’d ever misbehaved this much in her entire life. First the walk, then shutting herself up in her room, and now this? She scrutinized her mother’s face, hoping to find some hint to what she was thinking, but there was nothing. Marinette swallowed and nodded mutely, keeping her expression carefully neutral.

 

Her mother took a deep breath, and then leaned forward to cup Marinette’s face in her hands. Marinette blinked in surprise. This was not what she had been expecting.

 

“Oh, Marinette,” her mother breathed out, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “I was so scared. There was some sort of giant monster rampaging through the streets, and I had no idea where my little girl was! I couldn’t do anything to keep you safe. I couldn’t do anything at all. You could have died out there, baby.”

 

Marinette swallowed again, looking at the tears in her mother’s eyes and feeling oddly off-kilter. “I’m sorry, mama.”

 

Very suddenly, her mother drew her into a hug. Her arms wrapped around Marinette a little too tightly to be entirely comfortable, as if she was afraid of Marinette slipping away if she didn’t hold onto her. Marinette stiffened for a moment, taken by surprise, and then slowly leaned into the hug and hugged her mother back.

 

It was nice. Really nice. It wasn’t as if she and her mother never hugged at all, but their hugs were definitely rarer nowadays. Colder, too, and quicker. The last time Marinette had been hugged like this, with warmth and passion and _love_ , her father had still been alive and their family had been whole.

 

“I love you, Marinette,” her mother whispered softly into her hair. “I love you so much, baby.”

 

“I love you too,” Marinette said into her mother’s shoulder.

 

They hugged for a few more moments before her mother reluctantly drew back. Marinette noticed they were sitting closer together now, and both of their postures were considerably less stiff and formal.

 

“I called Ms. Bourgeois today,” her mother told her. “I mean—Chloe. I was hoping you were with her. It wouldn’t be as ideal as you being in your room, but at least I would know where you were. You weren’t with her, obviously, and upon learning that you were missing, Ms. Bourgeois had some rather harsh words for me.”

 

Marinette winced at that. “Ah, sorry Mama. What did she say?”

 

“Nothing that wasn’t true,” her mother replied cryptically. “Nothing I didn’t need to hear, regardless of how harsh the words were.”

 

Her mother reached out a hand and cupped Marinette’s face, lightly brushing a thumb across her cheek in a gesture so loving Marinette found herself instinctively leaning her face into the touch. “Marinette, I don’t think I’ve said this nearly as frequently as I should, but you’re such a good child. You’re always sweet and polite, you never misbehave, you complete all your lessons and make it to all your photoshoots. You do everything I ask of you and never complain, and you often do even more than necessary. You’re the perfect daughter.”

 

Marinette’s heart glowed at the praise. A giddy smile spread across her face along with a soft blush. “Thank you, Mama,” she breathed.

 

“Perhaps too perfect,” her mother continued, and Marinette stiffened and focused on her mother. She stroked her thumb over Marinette’s cheek again, expression turning sad. “I’ve smothered you,” she said. It wasn’t a question; it was a statement of fact. “I took away more freedom that you were willing to give, but you never complained. Perhaps it was because of the distance that had grown between us without me noticing, or perhaps it was because you felt like it wasn’t your place to complain. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter.”

 

Her mother shook her head and turned away from Marinette, face tilted downwards. “Today’s events were the consequences of my failure as a parent.” Her voice was thick as she clearly struggled against tears. Marinette wanted to reach out to comfort her, but she wasn’t sure if she should, or even how to do so.

 

Her mother wiped at her eyes. “Of course you would sneak out if you felt like you had no freedom. Of course you wouldn’t talk to me if you felt like I wouldn’t listen. I’ve let this distance grow between us ever since your father’s death, and I didn’t even bother to notice it until I found myself unable to reach out to you. We used to be so close, and now we can go days without even speaking to each other. That’s,” her mother wiped at her eyes again, a teardrop glittering on the back of her hand. “That’s terrible. I miss the way it was before.”

 

“So do I,” Marinette confessed softly. “I miss _you_.”

 

Her mother pulled her into another hug, just as suddenly as the one before. Marinette was less surprised by it this time though, and eagerly hugged her mother back.

 

“I miss you too, Marinette,” her mother sighed into her shoulder. “I’m sorry I let us drift so far apart.”

 

Emboldened, Marinette squeezed her mother a little tighter. “It’s not too late,” she said. “We can still get close again. And even though it won’t be the same as when Papa was alive, it can still be good. Different, but just as good.”

 

Her mother pulled back from the hug, smiling as she brushed some of Marinette’s hair out of her face. “When did you get so smart?”

 

Marinette beamed at her, and her mother smiled back, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss against Marinette’s forehead.

 

“Regardless of that,” her mother said when she drew back again. “I’ve smothered you. Caged you. I’ve made you feel so desperate for freedom that you resorted to sneaking out behind my back. And that’s my fault, so you don’t need to worry about apologizing for that. But still, unless I want something like this to happen again, something needs to change.”

 

Her mother closed her eyes and took a deep breath, Marinette watching her carefully. She opened her eyes and made eye contact. “If it is something you would want, I am willing to arrange for you to attend Collѐge Francoise Dupont.”

 

Everything seemed to freeze as Marinette processed what her mother had just said. It was as if the entire universe had paused in shock. “Do you mean,” Marinette paused, feeling dazed. “Like, school? Real school?”

 

Her mother nodded. Marinette took another moment to process this, feeling as if all of the air had been sucked out of her lungs.

 

Then a huge, giddy smile spread across her face. She nodded her head so enthusiastically that she almost gave herself whiplash. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes! _Please_ , Mama! I would _love_ to go to school!”

 

Her mother smiled gently at her excitement. “Alright, I’ll tell Nathalie to call the school.”

 

Marinette beamed at her, her smile so wide that it began to hurt her cheeks. Her mother’s much smaller, more sedate smile was aimed back at her, and for a moment Marinette felt overjoyed in a way that she hadn’t in a very long time.

 

That joy vanished, though, when the news broadcast changed.

 

“ _Just as Paris is about to celebrate its two new heroes, Scarlet Beetle and Chat Noire, a new wave of panic is sweeping through the capital as dozens of people are mysteriously transformed into stone monsters. It’s simply unbelievable! These victims, transformed into stone beings, are still like statues. Police are perplexed. What will happen to them? Will they come to life, or be frozen like that forever?”_

 

Her mother gasped, bringing a hand up to cover in mouth in shock. Marinette was frozen in horror as she watched the screen show several clips of innocent Parisians being turned into large stone monsters. What had gone wrong? It had seemed like she and Scarlet Beetle had been successful that afternoon, so why was this happening.

 

“Let’s stay together for tonight,” her mother suggested, doing a good job of masking her panic. “We can watch a movie together, just you and me. Does that sound alright?”

 

Marinette ached to say yes, but she knew she had to ask Plagg about this. She shook her head. “Um, in a minute, Mama. First I’d have to, uhh, finish my dinner. Yup. I should eat first.”

 

Her mother looked a little skeptical, but nodded and stood up. “Alright sweetheart. I’ll send Nathalie up for the dish in twenty minutes, okay?”

 

That was clearly her mother’s way of warning Marinette that she would be checking to make sure Marinette didn’t go anywhere, but Marinette just nodded. “Yes, I understand Mama. I love you.”

 

“I love you too, sweetheart,” her mother said, reaching out a hand to lightly brush Marinette’s bangs out of her eyes before leaving the room. Marinette slumped back down onto the couch as soon as the door shut, and Plagg came zipping out from wherever he’d hidden and headed directly to Marinette’s plate.

 

“Aw, fish,” he whined as he hovered over Marinette’s dinner plate.

 

“What’s wrong?” Marinette asked. “You’re a cat, aren’t you? Don’t you like fish?”

 

“I’m a kwami,” Plagg corrected. “I like cheese. Camembert, specifically, but I’m so hungry I’ll settle for anything at this point.”

 

“Well, I don’t have any camembert,” Marinette said. “I’ll see what I can do for you tomorrow, but for tonight, can’t you just eat the fish?” She paused, realizing Plagg had distracted her from what she’d meant to ask him. “And by the way, what’s going on with that?” she asked, pointing at the screen which was currently displaying the many stone beings now scattered around Paris.

 

“Did you capture the akuma?” Plagg asked.

 

* * *

 

“Capture the akuma?” Adrien asked. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

 

“Akumas can multiply,” Tikki explained. “That’s why they must be captured. And if Ivan’s emotions become negative again then the akuma will turn him back into a monster. He’ll control those stone beings and bring them to life to serve as his army!”

 

“What?!” Adrien exclaimed. “Oh my god! How do we fix it?”

 

“You need to purify the original akuma,” Tikki explained. “Only then can order be restored.”

 

“‘The original akuma’,” Adrien repeated. “But how am I supposed to find the original akuma. It could be anywhere, couldn’t it?”

 

Tikki hesitated for a moment before saying, “If Ivan gets upset again, the original akuma will go back to him. But he’ll also turn back into his akumatized form and bring all of those stone statues to life.”

 

“You mean I have to upset Ivan if I want to fix all of this?” Adrien asked. “But hasn’t he already been through enough?”

 

Tikki looked at him helplessly. “I don’t know any other way to find the original akuma. But the longer you wait, the more people will be turned into stone monsters, and Ivan is bound to get upset again eventually.”

 

Adrien slumped down into his chair. “Oh my god. Tikki, this is all my fault. If I had just captured the akuma originally then none of this would be happening.”

 

“Don’t be so hard on yourself!” Tikki cheered. “It was your first time. Mistakes happen. I know you can fix this. Just stay positive!”

 

“Stay positive,” Adrien repeated. “Stay positive. Okay. Well, how am I supposed to fix this? Upset Ivan, get him akumatized again, fight him _and_ all of those stone monsters, and hopefully win? I don’t— Tikki, I don’t know if I can do this.”

 

“You can,” Tikki insisted. “Nothing will be fixed if you don’t _try_ , Adrien. You’re the only one who can purify the akuma.”

 

“But no pressure or anything,” Adrien mumbled. “Yeah, okay. I’ll try.”

 

“Great!” Tikki chirped. “That’s all you need to do, Adrien. Just try your best.”

 

“Just try my best and win, you mean,” Adrien said. “Chat Noire will be there too, right? ‘Cause I don’t think I can do this without her.”

 

“Just believe in yourself, Adrien,” Tikki urged. “But yes, Chat Noire will probably be there. You two are partners, after all.”

 

“Right,” Adrien agreed. He still felt a little unsure.

 

“You got this, Adrien!” Tikki cheered. Adrien hoped she was right.


	2. Origins Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Origins Part Two: Electric Boogaloo

_“The stone beings are scattered all over Paris, and for the time being they’re showing no signs of movement. Police have cordoned off the areas around these stone beings until they can be moved somewhere else.”_

 

Marinette watched the news broadcast nervously, eating her breakfast while Plagg gobbled down the container of camembert she’d managed to get for him. Neither she nor her mother were big fans of cheese, especially super old, super _smelly_ cheese, but Marinette had a feeling she’d be ordering a lot of it in the future.

 

“I better not start smelling like camembert because of you,” Marinette warned with no real bite in her voice. “Just keep that stinky cheese away from me.”

 

“It may be stinky, but it tastes _so good_ ,” Plagg said, scarfing down another wedge of camembert. Marinette wrinkled her nose and turned her attention back to the news broadcast. Chloe’s dad was on the screen now, talking about how they wouldn’t give up until all of the stone beings had turned back into normal people and how all of their hope was resting on Scarlet Beetle and Chat Noire.

 

Marinette’s phone began to ring. Marinette squeaked in surprise and scrambled to pick up, checking the caller ID before she did so just in case. “Hey, Chloe.”

 

“ _Maricutie!_ ” Chloe sang through the phone. “ _What’s this I hear about your mom letting you go to the same school as me?_ ”

 

Just hearing that sentence was enough to bring a giddy smile to Marinette’s face. “I know, right? I can’t really believe it, but it seems to be happening! I have you to thank, you know? Mama said you told her some things she really needed to hear over the phone yesterday.”

 

“ _Well of course it’s because of me_ ,” Chloe preened over the phone, oblivious to Marinette’s fond eye roll on the other end of the line. “ _You’re welcome. So, when are you coming to school?”_

 

“I don’t know yet,” Marinette answered. “Mama promised she’d let me go, but she wants all of those stone beings to go away first, so it’s indefinite for now. She’s making arrangements right now, though. I think to reassure me that it’ll actually happen.”

 

“ _Well then let’s just hope these awful statues disappear soon, hmm? And don’t worry, Maricutie. I know you’re hopeless when it comes to socializing, so I’ll make sure the school puts you in my class so I can watch out for you.”_

 

Marinette smiled at Chloe’s thoughtfulness. “Thank you, Chloe. I appreciate it.”

 

 _“Of course you do._ _Oh. I have to go now, but I’ll call you later. Sabrina, hang up the phone._ ”

 

“ _Goodbye Marinette_ ,” a voice said through the phone. Marinette recognized it as the voice of one of Chloe’s other friends, Sabrina Raincomprix. She hung up the phone, and Marinette did the same.

 

“Can you believe it?” she asked Plagg, putting her phone down on the coffee table and reaching for her breakfast again. “I’m actually going to be able to go to school. A real school! Oh, I’m so excited!”

 

“You’re a weird kid,” Plagg said, floating over to her. “You actually want to go to school? You know most kids hate school, right?”

 

Marinette bit her lip, feeling self conscious. “It’s better than being cooped up at home all day being home schooled by private tutors and never being allowed to go outside.” An alarm on Marinette’s phone went off, and she glanced down. “And speaking of being home schooled, it’s time for my lessons to begin.”

 

* * *

 

Adrien stepped into the school with Alya by his side, showing him the webpage she had up on her phone. “I’m thinking of calling it the _Scarlet Letter_. You know, for Scarlet Beetle? Do you think it’s too gimmicky?”

 

Adrien shrugged. “I think it’s fine, but what about Chat Noire? She was a part of that battle too, y’know.”

 

“The blog will be about both of them, of course, but I can’t name it after both of them. Besides, I couldn’t think of anything with Chat Noire’s name,” Alya said. “Still, check it out. Look at the number of views I’ve gotten since I posted the video. And even the actual news used my footage. It’s like a dream come true!”

 

“You seem awfully excited about this,” Adrien commented.

 

“Of course I’m excited!” Alya exclaimed. “Paris has two real life superheroes looking after it and I got the first scoop on them! Do you have any idea how much this could push my journalistic career forward? Oh, it’s just _incredible_!”

 

“‘Journalistic career’?” Adrien repeated. “So you want to be a journalist?”

 

“Absolutely,” Alya said. “And I’ll start with the _Scarlet Letter_ . Or maybe I should go with _Scarlet Newsletter?_ Hmm.”

 

Adrien huffed out a fond laugh at Alya’s musings. It seemed like she was on the way to becoming a pretty close friend to him, and he was honestly all for it. And it was even better that she was so into him and Chat Noire.

 

Then he heard the voices.

 

“So you really don’t remember anything?”

 

“You were totally going ballistic. It was _so_ cool.”

 

“You were seriously out to crush me, dude.”

 

Adrien turned, Alya at his side, and saw Ivan sitting hunched over on a bench surrounded by their classmates. Ivan looked up towards Mylene, who looked away, and his face fell. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t myself.”

 

“Pft,” Chloe scoffed, flipping her hair. Sabrina stood next to her with her arms crossed over her chest, always the loyal minion. “Once a monster, always a monster.”

 

Ivan scowled at Chloe, standing up and storming off. People around him gasped and gawked at him like he was a circus act as he did so. Adrien’s heart went out to him. Looked like he wouldn’t even need to do anything to get Ivan upset again.

 

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Chloe called after him rudely.

 

“How could you say that to him?” Alya snapped. Adrien turned back to look at her just in time to see her stomp towards Chloe. He tried to grab her arm to stop her, but Alya dodged him easily and got right up in Chloe’s face. “It’s pretty rich for you to call him a monster considering how much you act like one.”

 

“Oh, so I’m the one who broke Sabrina’s dad’s arm, am I?” Chloe sneered at Alya. “Just because your footage of those lame superheroes was shown on TV doesn’t mean you get to go around acting all high and mighty. As the new girl here you’re the odd one out, but everyone else knows I’m the queen of this school.”

 

Alya’s features twisted into an angry snarl. “You little—”

 

“Hey.” Adrien stepped forward and got between Chloe and Alya before Alya could do something crazy like punch Chloe in the face. “Let’s all cool down here. It’s almost time for class, right? We should really get going.”

 

“Oooh,” Chloe cooed in a mocking tone. “Here comes the school pacifist right on time. Here to lay himself down like the doormat he is.” Chloe flipped her hair arrogantly. “Well at least one of you knows your place.”

 

Alya growled at that comment, making Adrien feel oddly flattered as he put a hand on her shoulder and gently steered her away from Chloe.

 

“What a brat,” Alya hissed from behind gritted teeth. “You shouldn’t let her talk to you like that.”

 

Adrien hummed but didn’t say anything. Instead he just lead Alya to the classroom and they took their seats. Chloe came in not long after, but thankfully she ignored them completely.

 

It was only when Ms. Bustier came in that Adrien suddenly realized he’d completely forgotten about Ivan because of Chloe and Alya’s little spat. Ugh, and he couldn’t go check up on him now because class was starting. Though if Ivan was going to be re-akumatized, wouldn’t it have already happened by now?

 

Adrien fidgeted nervously in his seat as Ms. Bustier began to take roll. Maybe he could ask to go to the bathroom after roll was over and go look for Ivan? Yeah, that seemed—

 

“PRESENT!” a loud voice roared, the classroom door flying off of its hinges and slamming into the opposite wall of the classroom. Everyone flinched, Adrien included, and a large, hulking stone monster stomped through the open doorway. Ivan.

 

“You,” Ivan growled, turning towards Chloe and scooping her up in one large stone hand.

 

Chloe screeched and wriggled ineffectively in Ivan’s grip. “Let go of me, you ugly monster! You’re _ruining_ my outfit!”

 

“That’s what she’s worried about?” Alya grumbled from next to Adrien.

 

Ivan stomped across the room and broke a hole in the wall as people screamed and fled from the classroom. Adrien stood up and moved to do the same, his intention being to find a place to hide and transform, but he stopped when he noticed that Alya wasn’t running. Ivan jumped down from the hole and landed on the street, shaking the ground enough to make both Adrien and Alya lose their balance.

 

Alya clambered to her feet and turned back to Adrien with a wide grin. “C’mon, let’s follow him!”

 

“Uh,” Adrien froze, knowing he needed to get himself to a private area to transform, but unsure how to turn Alya down. “Wouldn’t that be dangerous? What if we get, like, crushed or something?”

 

“Professional journalists put themselves in danger all the time to get their scoop,” Alya said, shaking her head. “It’s not like I’m going to try to take that monster on by myself, but I’m not going to miss a chance to see Scarlet Beetle and Chat Noire in action! C’mon Adrien!”

 

“I’m good,” Adrien said lamely. “You go. Just try not to get yourself crushed, okay?”

 

“I won’t,” Alya reassured him in a not-very-reassuring tone of voice, and then she sprinted out of the classroom. Adrien followed her out the door but split off after that to find himself a safe place to transform. He settled for the boys bathroom again.

 

Tikki flew out of his hoodie pocket as he set his bag down on the ground and began digging through it. He found the earrings and began tying them to one of his bracelets again.

 

“You really should try to get your ears pierced soon,” she advised. “It’s too easy to lose the earrings this way.”

 

“I’ll try to get it done as soon as possible,” Adrien promised. “Now, it’s time to transform!”

 

“Wait!” Tikki exclaimed. “I have something to tell you.”

 

Adrien paused, blinking at her. “Okay, what is it?”

 

“After the battle, grab whatever the lucky charm was and toss it up in the air. Then shout ‘Miraculous Ladybug’, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Adrien agreed easily. “Now, Tikki, spots on!”

 

The transformation overtook him, just as cool as before. The light racing up his arms and down his legs, leaving behind a skintight breathable supersuit. Adrien grinned as the mask formed across his face. He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of this.

 

He caught up with Ivan lumbering down the street, Chloe gripped tightly in his left hand. She was going on and on about how Ivan had no idea who he was messing with and about how her daddy was going to call in the police, the army, and the entire cavalry.

 

“Don’t forget the superheroes,” Adrien quipped as he ran towards them, springing up and kicking Ivan in the chest before rolling backwards. Ivan glowed and grew, and Adrien winced. “Whoops, forgot about that.”

 

“Super incompetent, you mean,” Chloe sniped.

 

“You wanted the cavalry?” Ivan growled. “Well here it comes!”

 

The street beneath Adrien’s feet shook as dozens of stone monsters all resembling Ivan, though a little smaller because Adrien had hit him, all ran towards them. Well that couldn’t be good.

 

“Seize him!” Ivan ordered, gesturing towards Adrien, and Adrien took that as his cue to get the hell out of there. He tried to run one way, but was cut off by a stone monster. He dodged to the left and was nearly hit by a giant stone fist. He rolled backwards and was nearly crushed by a giant stone foot.

 

Ivan began lumbering down the street, headed away from Adrien. Adrien tried to chase after him, but there were way too many stone monsters surrounding him. He couldn’t even take a moment to breathe lest one of them hit him or crush him or catch him. He was trapped in the middle of a circle of the stone monsters, and he was so busy dodging their attacks that he couldn’t do anything else. All he could really do was hope that Chat Noire showed up soon and lent a helping paw.

 

And just because this situation wasn’t already bad enough, Alya came running around the corner and stopped at the mouth of the alleyway. None of the stone monsters were looking at her, but with her this close to the danger Adrien felt that much more on edge.

 

“If you can hear me Chat Noire, I could really use some help!” he shouted out.

 

Just then, one of the stone beings picked up a car and tossed it at him. Adrien managed to dodge, but it flew past him and headed for Alya. His breath caught in his throat and he tossed out his yoyo, desperately hoping that he'd be able to pull her out of the way before the car hit her.

 

He managed it. Barely. His yoyo looped around Alya’s wrist and he tugged as quickly as he could. Alya stumbled and fell down, scraping her hands and knees as she landed on the street, but the car sailed past her without touching so much as a hair on her head. Adrien let out a relieved breath right before one of the stone monsters grabbed him by the chest and lifted him off the street, his legs dangling helplessly from the monster’s grip.

 

“Scarlet Beetle!” Alya called out after him as Adrien wiggled fruitlessly in its grip.

 

* * *

 

Marinette’s mother came to check up on her as soon as there was news of the stone beings mobilizing. One one hand, it was really heartwarming and sweet and Marinette felt very loved. On the other hand, it made it difficult to sneak out to deal with the now-moving stone beings.

 

“Plagg, what happened?” she hissed as she entered her room and shut the door behind her.

 

“That guy must have been re-akumatized,” Plagg said. “You’ll have to break his re-akumatized object just like you did the first time, but make sure the holder of the Ladybug Miraculous purifies the akuma this time.”

 

“Got it,” Marinette said. “But, Plagg. How are we supposed to combat all of those stone beings? We could barely handle one of them, never mind a few dozen.”

 

“You only need to handle one of them,” Plagg said. “Just take care of the original and the rest of them will disappear too.”

 

“Well, how am I supposed to know which one the original is?”

 

Plagg shrugged at her. “I don’t know. That’s not my problem. You’re the superhero, so you figure it out.”

 

Marinette frowned at him, but nodded. “Okay. I think I’m ready. Let’s go. Plagg, claws out!”

 

Plagg was sucked into the ring and the transformation began. It was much smoother than it had been previously, now that Marinette was ready for it. She slipped out the window, being sure to close it this time, and hoped she’d be back before anybody noticed she was gone. Doubtful, but a girl can dream.

 

Now, her first step was to find Scarlet Beetle. From there, they could both find the original, destroy his akumatized item, and then Scarlet Beetle would purify the akuma. Then, hopefully, everything would go back to normal. And after everything was back to normal, Marinette would be able to go to _school_. Gosh, she was giddy just thinking about it.

 

Scarlet Beetle first. Okay.

 

Marinette began making her way across the rooftops of Paris, following the trails of destruction the stone beings had clearly left behind. It looked like they’d all started moving towards one spot after they’d woken up, and that seemed as good a place to start as any.

 

“If you can hear me, Chat Noire, I could really use some help!” Marinette heard someone shout just as she was getting close. Scarlet Beetle! She immediately changed direction, but she was so far away. She was worried she’d be too late.

 

She heard a loud crash and a startled scream from the direction she was headed towards. Her stomach flipped. Oh goodness, she hoped Scarlet Beetle was okay. She needed him to purify the akuma, and beyond that, she just wanted him to be okay.

 

Marinette reached the area and saw the girl from earlier, the one who’d recorded everything, laying on the ground with Scarlet Beetle’s yoyo near her, one end wrapped around her wrist. She looked absolutely terrified as she stared down the street that a couple of the stone beings had obviously lumbered down.

 

“What happened?” Marinette asked as she landed next to the girl. She startled and glanced towards Marinette with wide, frantic eyes.

 

“Scarlet Beetle!” the girl gasped. “They grabbed him!”

 

“Okay,” Marinette said, bending to pick up Scarlet Beetle’s yoyo. “I’ll get him,” she said, sounding a lot more confident than she felt. “We’ll handle this, so you should get out of here. It’s dangerous.”

 

Marinette then ran down the street, heart in her throat as she worried about Scarlet Beetle. She couldn’t do this without him. Not only because he was the only one who could purify the akuma, but also because she just didn’t feel like she could do this without backup. She wasn’t strong enough on her own.

 

Using her staff, she managed to catch up with the lumbering stone beings and spotted the one carrying Scarlet Beetle because of his flailing legs sticking out of its fist. If the situation wasn’t so dire she would have thought the image was kind of funny.

 

“Scarlet Beetle, extend this!” she yelled, tossing her staff towards him. He caught it and extended it from inside the stone being’s fist, making the monster’s hand open and drop him. She darted into the street and scooped him up right before the monster could crush him, and pulled him into a back alley.

 

“I’m sorry I’m late, Scarlet Beetle,” she apologized. She held up his yoyo. “Trade you?”

 

“Yeah,” he agreed, handing over her staff in exchange for his yoyo. “Now, lets go kick some stone butt.”

 

“We should look for the original victim,” Marinette said. “I have no idea how we’re going to find him, but my kwami told my that if you purified his akuma, all of them would go back to normal.”

 

“Yeah,” Scarlet Beetle agreed. “My kwami said the same thing. And guess what?” He grinned at her. “I know just how to find him. He’s carrying a girl with him, and I saw which way he went. Come on, follow me.”

 

“Got it,” Marinette said, and she let Scarlet Beetle lead her over the rooftops. Well, until the Eiffel Tower came into view. Then both she and Scarlet Beetle halted in their tracks, staring at the giant stone monster that was standing on the Eiffel Tower.

 

“I think I just found the original,” Scarlet Beetle said.

 

“Yeah.” Marinette nodded. “Let’s go!”

 

This time it was Scarlet Beetle following her over the rooftops as they made their way towards the Eiffel Tower as quickly as they could. The stone monster roared, his yells thundering through the air, and helicopters swirled around the tower. Chloe’s dad stood below, just in front of the police barrier, with a megaphone in his hand.

 

“I demand my daughter’s safe return!” he shouted through the megaphone. Marinette blinked, her eyes widening in shock. Did the monster have Chloe? Scarlet Beetle had said it was carrying a girl, but what were the chances that it would be Chloe?

 

“You know what?” the stone monster rumbled. “You’re welcome to her!”

 

And just like that, the stone monster threw something through the air. Threw _Chloe_ through the air. Marinette’s heart leapt into her throat and she pushed herself to get there even faster, positioning herself to catch Chloe before she hit the pavement. _C’mon, c’mon_ — _Gotcha!_

 

Marinette managed to catch Chloe in her arms right before she hit the pavement. She breathed a sigh of relief as they skidded to a stop and looked up at Chloe.

 

“I didn’t promise,” Chloe said.

 

Marinette blinked in confusion. “What?”

 

She put Chloe down and Chloe immediately ran for her father, and her father ran for her. They hugged in the middle, both of them looking relieved, and Marinette smiled. It was sweet.

 

“We’re clear to attack!” one of the cop’s beyond the barrier announced. All of the waiting police raised their weapons.

 

“Wait!” Marinette yelled. “You can’t. You’ll only make it worse!"

 

“I have a new plan, unlike you,” the policeman drawled arrogantly, looking down his nose at her. “Move aside and let the pros do their thing. You’ve already failed once before.”

 

Marinette hesitated at that, taking a step back and biting her lip. Scarlet Beetle noticed her unease and looked over at her in dismay.

 

“Chat Noire?” he asked concernedly.

 

“Do you think they’re right?” she whispered. She looked up at him, uncertainty in her heart. “I mean, if we had succeeded the first time, none of this would be happening. I really don’t think I’m the right one for this job.”

 

Scarlet Beetle looked at her with wide green eyes for a second, and then shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “No way. You’re amazing! There’s no way I would have won against that monster yesterday if you hadn’t been there with me.” He reached out and gripped her shoulder, smiling reassuringly when she looked up at him. “So what if we messed up before? That doesn’t change the fact that they’ll only make things worse by firing on him. It’s up to us to fix this, and I know we can do it together. So if you can’t trust yourself to pull this off, can you at least trust me? At least for today?”

 

Marinette took a deep breath and then nodded, offering Scarlet Beetle a weak smile. “Okay. I trust you.”

 

Just then, the stone monster began to cough. Violently. Like he was choking on his own tongue. He coughed and hacked until he tilted his head backwards and coughed up a swarm of dark black butterflies which swarmed above him in a crowd before forming the shape of a head. The monster coughed once more, and then fell backwards, still as a statue.

 

“ _People of Paris._ ” A voice echoed across the area, deep and haunting. The cloud of butterflies moved with it, making it seem like the head they were forming was speaking itself. “ _Listen carefully. I am Hawkmoth. Scarlet Beetle. Chat Noire. Give me the Ladybug earrings and the Black Cat ring now. You’ve done enough damage to these innocent people already.”_

 

The area stilled, like the whole city was collectively holding their breath. Marinette glanced over at Scarlet Beetle, and even he looked shaken. But she, she couldn’t let him get away with trying to shift the blame like that.

 

Marinette began to clap. Slow, steady, but loud enough to draw attention. She took a step forward, and then another and another. “Nice try, Hawkmoth, but we know who the bad guy is. Let’s not reverse the roles here. Without you none of these innocent victims would be transformed into villains.”

 

“Yeah!” Scarlet Beetle yelled, coming forward to stand beside her. “You can’t twist this back on us. All we’re trying to do is protect Paris. Protect Paris from you!”

 

“And Hawkmoth,” Marinette shouted, emboldened by Scarlet Beetle’s support. “Rest assured, no matter how long it takes, we will find you, and you will hand us your Miraculous!”

 

She nudged Scarlet Beetle and nodded towards the cloud of black butterflies. “Feel up for purifying some akumas?”

 

He grinned at her. “I like the way you think.”

 

He ran forward, her not far behind, and leapt up. “Time to de-evilize!” he shouted, and began flicking and twirling his yoyo so that it gathered up more and more of the little black butterflies. Marinette used her staff to get her up the Eiffel Tower, watching as Scarlet Beetle collected the last of the black butterflies and landed right next to her.

 

“Wow,” she said. He grinned at her, and they both looked down at the shocked citizens of Paris below. Marinette took a step forward, confidence surging through her with Scarlet Beetle by her side.

 

“Let us make this promise to you!” she shouted, her voice ringing across the area. “No matter who wants to harm you, Scarlet Beetle and I will do everything in our power to protect you and keep you safe.”

 

Taking his cue, Scarlet Beetle raised his yoyo and realized a wave of pure white butterflies out into the area, swirling around in all directions before taking off. It was exhilarating. She looked at Scarlet Beetle, who was staring right back at her, and smiled. He grinned right back, and for a moment it was like they were frozen in time together.

 

* * *

 

 _This girl is amazing,_ Adrien thought as he stared at Chat Noire’s bright smile. _So amazing_. Every part of her had him spellbound. He felt like he could stare at her smile forever and never get tired of it.

 

 _Wow_.

 

Cruel reality snapped back into place as Ivan, or stone Ivan, got up behind them and let out an ear-splitting roar. Both he and Chat Noire winced and turned to face him. The stone monster Ivan had become towered over them.

 

Ivan roared again and jumped away from them, landing hard enough to make the entire tower shake. Both Adrien and Chat Noire lost their balance and fell to their knees. When they got up, Ivan was beginning to climb up the side of the Eiffel Tower, metal beams bending beneath his stone limbs with every meter he ascended.

 

“Come to me, my stone beings!” Ivan ordered, and all around them the stone beings obeyed. Dozens of them began to climb the tower from all sides, damaging it even further in the process and trapping him and Chat Noire in.

 

“We’re surrounded.” Adrien looked to Chat Noire in the hopes that she would have a plan. “What do we do now? We can’t attack him.”

 

“No,” Chat Noire agreed. “But we do know where his akuma is.”

 

Adrien thought for a moment, and then felt his face light up. “His fist! Just like before, he’s never opened it!”

 

“So we need him to open his fist,” Chat Noire said. “But how to do that?”

 

“Maybe what worked before will work again?” Adrien suggested. “Should I try my Lucky Ch—, uh, you know.”

 

Chat Noire nodded. “Yeah. But we should get up there first.” She motioned up towards where Ivan now was. “We only have minutes before we turn back after we use our powers, and I think we might need every second of them.”

 

“Sounds like a plan.” Adrien grinned at her. “See you at the top, Kitty.”

 

He swung up the side of the Eiffel Tower, Chat Noire right behind him, jumping from beam to beam to get upwards just like a real cat. They reached the top together, and Chat Noire looked at him expectantly.

 

Adrien wasted no further time and flung his yoyo high up in the air. “ _Lucky Charm!”_

 

Just like before, his yoyo emitted a bright light which eventually materialized into an object that fell back towards him. He caught it and blinked at it curiously. “A pepper shaker?” He looked to Chat Noire. “How is this supposed to help us get him to open his fist?”

 

Chat Noire squinted at the pepper shaker, clearly thinking hard, and then her expression brightened. She held out her hand for the pepper shaker, and Adrien gladly handed it over.

 

Chat Noire leapt down the tower until she was directly above Ivan’s face, only just out of his reach, and uncapped the pepper shaker. Adrien caught on to what she was about to do only seconds before she did it, and then she dumped the entire pepper shaker out onto Ivan’s face.

 

There was a pause. The whole world seemed to be watching them. And then, Ivan sneezed.

 

It took Adrien off guard by how loud it was. Even the news helicopters hovering close by were sent flying backwards from the force of it. Chat Noire wasn’t surprised, though. She leapt down as Ivan was recovering from the sneeze and wriggled into his loose fist, using her staff to keep his hand open. She slipped through his fingers and clambered part of the way up the tower, dodging Ivan’s swipes at her, and tossed a purple stone up to him.

 

“Got it!” he yelled down to her, and dropped the rock so he could smash it with his foot. It broke cleanly in two and an inky black butterfly fluttered out of it.

 

“That’s enough mischief out of you, little akuma,” he said, twirling his yoyo and getting ready to capture the bug with it. Then he heard a shout and looked down to see Ivan falling towards the ground, his stone form vanishing from around him.

 

“I’ve got him, don’t worry!” Chat Noire shouted up at him. “Just take care of the akuma.”

 

Adrien nodded, though she couldn’t see it, and twirled his yoyo again before flinging it towards the butterfly. The shout of “ _Cataclysm!_ ” in Chat Noire’s voice came from below him as he caught the butterfly and his yoyo closed around it. He drew the yoyo back in as the sound of creaking metal filled the air, and then looked down to see what had happened.

 

A part of the Eiffel Tower had peeled away in a strip and was now sticking outwards, Chat Noire and a shaken-looking Ivan standing on top of it. He hopped down towards her and landed on the strip as well, unable to shake the wide grin off his face.

 

“Told ya we could do it,” he said.

 

Chat Noire grinned at him fondly. “Don’t go getting cocky on me now, Bug Boy.” She poked him in the shoulder, careful not to actually hurt him with her claws. “Did you capture the akuma?”

 

He nodded. “Yup.” He brought his yoyo up and pressed the center of it, releasing a pure white butterfly out of it. They both watched as it flapped upwards towards the bright blue sky.

 

“Bye bye little butterfly,” Chat Noire whispered, almost too quiet to hear. Adrien wasn’t even sure if she was aware she’d said that out loud. Wow, she was so adorable.

 

He suddenly remembered what Tikki had told him to do before he’d transformed today. Grab whatever the lucky charm was, toss it up in the air, and shout “miraculous ladybug”. Right.

 

“What did you do with the pepper shaker?” he asked.

 

Chat Noire blinked at him, obviously not expecting that question. “Um, I think I put it down on one of the beams up there. Why?”

 

“I’ve got something to do,” he said. “Think you can get Iv—uh! I mean, him,” he nodded towards Ivan. “Down to the ground?”

 

Chat Noire looked a little curious, but nodded at him. “Sure thing.”

 

Adrien turned away from her and went back up the tower to where she’d been when she’d dumped the pepper shaker on Ivan’s face. He found the empty shaker placed on one of the beams there and grabbed it before making his way down the tower and meeting up with Chat Noire on the ground.

 

“It isn’t your fault, Ivan,” she was saying. “It’s Hawkmoth. He took advantage of your feelings, and of you. You shouldn’t feel bad for being a victim in all of this.”

 

“She’s right,” Adrien chimed in as he joined them. “None of this is your fault, so don’t blame yourself.”

 

Ivan looked kind of nervous, but that might have been more because he had such a pretty girl so close to him. Or because he was talking to two superheroes. Adrien knew he had a crush on Mylene.

 

“What did you need the pepper shaker for?” Chat Noire asked him curiously.

 

Adrien grinned sheepishly and shrugged at her before doing as Tikki told him. He tossed the empty pepper shaker high in the air and shouted, “ _Miraculous Ladybug!_ ”

 

He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting to happen, but whatever it was, his expectations were exceeded. By, like, a _lot_.

 

A swarm of magical, glowing ladybugs erupted from where he’d flung the pepper shaker, quickly flying all over the city and repairing all the damage that had taken place in the past two days. The cracked streets, the fallen buildings, and the dents on the Eiffel Tower. Surely repairing even more damage that they couldn’t see from here. Adrien could do nothing but gape as the ladybugs swirled around them.

 

“Are you seeing this?” he asked faintly.

 

“Yeah,” Chat Noire said from beside him, her blue, feline eyes opened wide. “It’s incredible. It’s amazing. No, it’s _miraculous_!”

 

The ladybugs eventually stopped swirling around them, and Chat Noire hesitantly held her fist out towards him, like she still wasn’t quite sure what a fist bump was but wanted to do one anyway. He grinned and bumped his own fist against hers.

 

“Pound it!” they said together. Chat Noire giggled at that and Adrien found that her laughter was infectious. It was impossible to keep himself from joining in on her laughter.

 

Unfortunately, they were cut short by a beeping sound coming from the earrings on his wrist.

 

“Well,” Chat Noire said. “Looks like you better be going, Bug Boy.”

 

“See you around?” he asked hopefully.

 

Chat Noire smiled at him. “Definitely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the next part is the Bubbler where Marinette and Nino become friends, which honestly I kinda want to write but at the same time that sounds exhausting. I mean, I should stop taunting you with maybes so don't expect a continuation of this. But like, tell me in the comments if you would read more of this.

**Author's Note:**

> I would absolutely love it if you would leave a review! They make my heart swell with joy.


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